HERO MUSLIM PILOTS SAVE DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS FROM DOOMED JET
St. Louis area newspapers | 10.04.2003 01:11
Two pilots whose crash landing into the Mississippi River caused a brief concern of terrorist attack were actually heroes who steered their doomed jet away from populated areas, the top FBI official at St. Louis said Wednesday.
Please note that 2 articles follow:
*Pilots who crashed into Mississippi called heroes
*Plane crashes into Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis
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(1)
Pilots who crashed into Mississippi called heroes
Bill Bryan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/D61F37F80B60624086256D030078EDF3?OpenDocument&Headline=Pilots+who+crashed+into+Mississippi+called+heroes
Two pilots whose crash landing into the Mississippi River caused a brief concern of terrorist attack were actually heroes who steered their doomed jet away from populated areas, the top FBI official at St. Louis said Wednesday.
It was not terrorism, said Thomas Bush, the FBI special agent in charge, after a day's probe of the incident that happened about dusk Tuesday near the McKinley Bridge. "If this is not terrorism, it could easily be heroism," he added.
Bush said the twin-jet Falcon 20, owned by Grand Aire, a charter company based in Ohio, was hauling seat cushions from Del Rio, Texas, to a distributor in Fenton. Officials say it apparently ran out of fuel while waiting its turn to land at Lambert Field. The pilots decided a crash landing in the water, north of the McKLinley Bridge, was their best option.
St. Louis firefighters rushed to the scene by boat in time to pluck one from the floating fuselage and the other from inside, officials said. Both remained hospitalized. They were identified as Saleem Iqbal, 34, and Mohammed Saleh, 44. They were technically held in custody for a while, until concerns of an attack could be investigated and dismissed.
Bush called the landing "an extraordinary feat."
He said there appears to be nothing but coincidence to link the crash landing to a crash of another Grand Aire Falcon 20 about five hours earlier near Toledo, killing three company employees.
The circumstances of both accidents remaiuned under investigation.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/D61F37F80B60624086256D030078EDF3?OpenDocument&Headline=Pilots+who+crashed+into+Mississippi+called+heroes
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(2)
Plane crashes into Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis
Jefferson City News Tribune
April 9, 2003
http://newstribune.com/stories/040903/sta_0409030926.asp
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photo:
http://newstribune.com/images/040903/AP-PlaneLR.jpg
The wreckage of a small plane that crashed into the MIssissippi River near the McKinley Bridge on Tuesday floats down river with guidance from a St. Louis Fire Department boat after firefighters rescued the plane's two occupants. The wreckage is lit by lights from the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Ill.
Associated Press photo
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ST. LOUIS -- Two men aboard a charter jet survived when the plane crashed into the Mississippi River near the McKinley Bridge north of St. Louis Tuesday night. Police said the plane had missed an approach at Lambert Airport and was going around for another try at landing.
The men, identified as Saleem Iqbal, 34, and Mohammed Saleh, 44, were rescued and taken to a hospital, where one was listed in critical condition and the other serious condition. Authorities did not specify which one was critical and which serious.
Police said it appeared both men were licensed pilots, and they were not sure which one had been flying the plane. It was not immediately clear where the men live. The plane makes deliveries to manufacturing firms in the St. Louis area.
The plane belongs to Ohio-based Grand Aire Inc., which had another plane crash about five hours earlier in Ohio, killing all three people on board.
Police received a call just before 7 p.m. regarding a plane in distress, said Deputy Police Chief Ray Lauer. St. Louis Fire Department spokesman Steve Reynolds described the plane as a twin-engine cargo plane, and that a fire department boat was used to rescue the men.
When rescuers arrived, one was in the water and the other was holding onto the plane, Reynolds said.
Lauer said both victims probably were suffering from hypothermia. They may have been in the water for about 15 minutes before their rescue, he said.
"They were both conscious and talking," Reynolds said.
The FBI and police were investigating to determine whether the crash was the result of possible terrorism. They said they had no reason to believe it was, but that they were taking every precaution.
"Because the country is on an orange alert and because Mississippi River bridges have been listed as possible terrorism targets, we are handling this matter with extreme caution," Mayor Francis Slay said.
But he warned against jumping to conclusions.
Officials have said in the past that bridges over the Mississippi River, along with the Gateway Arch at downtown St. Louis, were potential terrorism targets.
"There's no need to be overly frightened, but we're looking at every aspect of the crash," Police Chief Joe Mokwa said.
Elizabeth Isham Cory of the Federal Aviation Administration in Chicago directed questions Wednesday morning to the National Transportation Safety Board. Sharon Stewart, a worker in the NTSB's Chicago office, said an investigator was driving to St. Louis as part of the inquiry into the crash. She could not provide any additional information about the crash or the investigation.
Lauer said security will be heightened as a precaution around the bridge, one of four downtown. The area where the plane crashed is not far from two casinos _ the President at downtown St. Louis and the Casino Queen at East St. Louis, Ill. It is also not far from the Arch, several office buildings and Interstate 70.
Grand Aire flight 179 was en route to Lambert Airport from Del Rio, Texas, police said.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also said an FAA source said that while circling to come back for a second try at landing, the crew radioed air traffic controllers that the Falcon 20 turbo jet was critically low on fuel.
In Ohio, a twin-engine Grand Aire jet crashed in flames in a remote area of a nature preserve while on approach to Toledo Express Airport, where the company is based.
The Falcon 20 turbo jet bound for the Toledo airport was on its way from Traverse City, Mich., when it disappeared from radar in the air traffic control towe.
Sheriff's deputies and park rangers alerted by the tower found the wreckage when they followed a horse trail toward smoke in thick vegetation in a nature preserve a mile southwest of the airport.
The plane apparently arrived in Traverse City sometime Tuesday morning, either picked up or dropped off freight, and returned to Toledo, said Stephen Cassens, Cherry Capital Airport director.
On July 18, a twin-engine plane owned by Grand Aire crashed as it attempted to land in dense fog at an airport in Columbus, Ind., killing the pilot. Grand Aire, which offers passenger and freight charter services as well as trucking, moved to the Toledo airport from Monroe, Mich., in 1999.
http://newstribune.com/stories/040903/sta_0409030926.asp
*Pilots who crashed into Mississippi called heroes
*Plane crashes into Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis
---
(1)
Pilots who crashed into Mississippi called heroes
Bill Bryan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/D61F37F80B60624086256D030078EDF3?OpenDocument&Headline=Pilots+who+crashed+into+Mississippi+called+heroes Two pilots whose crash landing into the Mississippi River caused a brief concern of terrorist attack were actually heroes who steered their doomed jet away from populated areas, the top FBI official at St. Louis said Wednesday.
It was not terrorism, said Thomas Bush, the FBI special agent in charge, after a day's probe of the incident that happened about dusk Tuesday near the McKinley Bridge. "If this is not terrorism, it could easily be heroism," he added.
Bush said the twin-jet Falcon 20, owned by Grand Aire, a charter company based in Ohio, was hauling seat cushions from Del Rio, Texas, to a distributor in Fenton. Officials say it apparently ran out of fuel while waiting its turn to land at Lambert Field. The pilots decided a crash landing in the water, north of the McKLinley Bridge, was their best option.
St. Louis firefighters rushed to the scene by boat in time to pluck one from the floating fuselage and the other from inside, officials said. Both remained hospitalized. They were identified as Saleem Iqbal, 34, and Mohammed Saleh, 44. They were technically held in custody for a while, until concerns of an attack could be investigated and dismissed.
Bush called the landing "an extraordinary feat."
He said there appears to be nothing but coincidence to link the crash landing to a crash of another Grand Aire Falcon 20 about five hours earlier near Toledo, killing three company employees.
The circumstances of both accidents remaiuned under investigation.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/D61F37F80B60624086256D030078EDF3?OpenDocument&Headline=Pilots+who+crashed+into+Mississippi+called+heroes ---
(2)
Plane crashes into Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis
Jefferson City News Tribune
April 9, 2003
http://newstribune.com/stories/040903/sta_0409030926.asp ----------------------------------------------
photo:
http://newstribune.com/images/040903/AP-PlaneLR.jpg 
The wreckage of a small plane that crashed into the MIssissippi River near the McKinley Bridge on Tuesday floats down river with guidance from a St. Louis Fire Department boat after firefighters rescued the plane's two occupants. The wreckage is lit by lights from the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Ill.
Associated Press photo
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ST. LOUIS -- Two men aboard a charter jet survived when the plane crashed into the Mississippi River near the McKinley Bridge north of St. Louis Tuesday night. Police said the plane had missed an approach at Lambert Airport and was going around for another try at landing.
The men, identified as Saleem Iqbal, 34, and Mohammed Saleh, 44, were rescued and taken to a hospital, where one was listed in critical condition and the other serious condition. Authorities did not specify which one was critical and which serious.
Police said it appeared both men were licensed pilots, and they were not sure which one had been flying the plane. It was not immediately clear where the men live. The plane makes deliveries to manufacturing firms in the St. Louis area.
The plane belongs to Ohio-based Grand Aire Inc., which had another plane crash about five hours earlier in Ohio, killing all three people on board.
Police received a call just before 7 p.m. regarding a plane in distress, said Deputy Police Chief Ray Lauer. St. Louis Fire Department spokesman Steve Reynolds described the plane as a twin-engine cargo plane, and that a fire department boat was used to rescue the men.
When rescuers arrived, one was in the water and the other was holding onto the plane, Reynolds said.
Lauer said both victims probably were suffering from hypothermia. They may have been in the water for about 15 minutes before their rescue, he said.
"They were both conscious and talking," Reynolds said.
The FBI and police were investigating to determine whether the crash was the result of possible terrorism. They said they had no reason to believe it was, but that they were taking every precaution.
"Because the country is on an orange alert and because Mississippi River bridges have been listed as possible terrorism targets, we are handling this matter with extreme caution," Mayor Francis Slay said.
But he warned against jumping to conclusions.
Officials have said in the past that bridges over the Mississippi River, along with the Gateway Arch at downtown St. Louis, were potential terrorism targets.
"There's no need to be overly frightened, but we're looking at every aspect of the crash," Police Chief Joe Mokwa said.
Elizabeth Isham Cory of the Federal Aviation Administration in Chicago directed questions Wednesday morning to the National Transportation Safety Board. Sharon Stewart, a worker in the NTSB's Chicago office, said an investigator was driving to St. Louis as part of the inquiry into the crash. She could not provide any additional information about the crash or the investigation.
Lauer said security will be heightened as a precaution around the bridge, one of four downtown. The area where the plane crashed is not far from two casinos _ the President at downtown St. Louis and the Casino Queen at East St. Louis, Ill. It is also not far from the Arch, several office buildings and Interstate 70.
Grand Aire flight 179 was en route to Lambert Airport from Del Rio, Texas, police said.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also said an FAA source said that while circling to come back for a second try at landing, the crew radioed air traffic controllers that the Falcon 20 turbo jet was critically low on fuel.
In Ohio, a twin-engine Grand Aire jet crashed in flames in a remote area of a nature preserve while on approach to Toledo Express Airport, where the company is based.
The Falcon 20 turbo jet bound for the Toledo airport was on its way from Traverse City, Mich., when it disappeared from radar in the air traffic control towe.
Sheriff's deputies and park rangers alerted by the tower found the wreckage when they followed a horse trail toward smoke in thick vegetation in a nature preserve a mile southwest of the airport.
The plane apparently arrived in Traverse City sometime Tuesday morning, either picked up or dropped off freight, and returned to Toledo, said Stephen Cassens, Cherry Capital Airport director.
On July 18, a twin-engine plane owned by Grand Aire crashed as it attempted to land in dense fog at an airport in Columbus, Ind., killing the pilot. Grand Aire, which offers passenger and freight charter services as well as trucking, moved to the Toledo airport from Monroe, Mich., in 1999.
http://newstribune.com/stories/040903/sta_0409030926.asp
St. Louis area newspapers